The 10 highest-grossing movies of all time -- there's one movie that beats 'Star Wars'

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” looks ready to demolish box-office records when it comes out Friday, with advance ticket sales that are quadruple the previous record.

So it’s a good time to look back at what are the highest-grossing movies ever. For this list, we looked at domestic box-office grosses adjusted for inflation, to see what old movies would have made in today’s dollars, as calculated by Box Office Mojo. So there’s no “Avatar” on this list.

The original 1977 “Star Wars” comes in high, but not quite first. You might be surprised by some of the other titles.

10. 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937)

RKO Radio Pictures

Adjusted gross: $909,060,000

Unadjusted gross: $184,925,486

Walt Disney's first cel-animated feature-length film, about the princess and the Queen fearful of her beauty, is also the company's biggest hit in adjusted dollars.

9. 'The Exorcist' (1973)

Warner Bros.

Adjusted gross: $922,397,100

Unadjusted gross: $232,906,145

The '70s horror film about a young girl who is possessed is widely regarded as the best in the genre. And at the time it came out, William Friedkin's masterpiece was by far the most terrifying thing around.

8. 'Doctor Zhivago' (1965)

MGM

Adjusted gross: $1,035,289,700

Unadjusted gross: $111,721,910

The David Learn-directed epic starring British icons Alec Guinness and Julie Christie tells the story of a romance set against the backdrop of World War I.

7. 'Jaws' (1975)

Universal Pictures

Adjusted gross: $1,068,177,300

Unadjusted gross: $260,000,000

Steven Spielberg created the summer blockbuster with his thriller starring Richard Dreyfuss about the great white shark lurking just beneath.

6. 'The Ten Commandments' (1956)

Paramount Pictures

Adjusted gross: $1,092,540,000

Unadjusted gross: $65,500,000

The biblical epic has Charlton Heston in his most famous role as Moses.

5. 'Titanic' (1997)

Paramount Pictures

Adjusted gross: $1,129,857,100

Unadjusted gross: $658,672,302

'Titanic' was director James Cameron's first world-conquering smash, before 'Avatar,' and it launched the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

4. 'E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial' (1982)

Universal Pictures

Adjusted gross: $1,183,065,200

Unadjusted gross: $435,110,554

Spielberg's other biggest movie of all time, 'E.T.,' tells a coming-of-age story about a boy who happens to befriend an alien that's just landed in his neighbourhood.

3. 'The Sound of Music' (1965)

20th Century Fox

Adjusted gross: $1,187,744,200

Unadjusted gross: $158,671,368

By far the most well-known and beloved musical film of all time, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

2. 'Star Wars' (1977)

Lucasfilm

Adjusted gross: $1,485,517,400

Unadjusted gross: $460,998,007

Spielberg may have given rise to the modern blockbuster as we know it now, but George Lucas gave us the biggest blockbuster, and the most successful cinematic sci-fi series ever, which now continues under Disney with 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens.' And Harrison Ford, Mark Hammill, and Carrie Fisher are back again.

1. 'Gone with the Wind' (1939)

MGM

Adjusted gross: $1,685,052,200

Unadjusted gross: $198,676,459

It's hard to imagine the effect this epic film set against the Civil War and Reconstruction had on American moviegoing audiences when it came out, breaking all records at the time and earning the highest-ever domestic gross in today's dollars.

But it's safe to say that the story of Scarlett O'Hara (adapted from the award-winning novel), starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, is deeply embedded in the American consciousness.

Plus: The 10 highest-grossing movies not adjusted for inflation

20th Century Fox

If you weren't to adjust grosses for inflation at all, these have been the top-performing movies at the domestic box office over their lifetime (you can see the top 10 for worldwide grosses here):